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Editorial

Minority decides for the majority

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Thursday May 9, 2013 5:33 AM

A look at Tuesday’s primary-election results shows that many important races and issues were
decided by only a handful of the people they will affect. Many people didn’t bother to show up at
the polls.

For those who think voting isn’t worth the effort, consider the following stories from the
balloting:

In Orient, just south of the Franklin County line, eight voters swayed the decision to make an
entire village disappear from the map. It’s been there for decades, marking an old Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad station, and more recently, a wide spot in the road for those headed to the state
prison complex.

The village has 270 residents, many of whom apparently stayed home on Tuesday while others
decided for them that the village was too small to function effectively. The vote to dissolve the
village and become part of Pickaway County’s Scioto Township was 38 to 30.

The Groveport Madison school levy failed by a mere 16 votes. Without the $5.5 million emergency
levy, the school board plans to end bus service for high-school students, cut 17 teachers and make
students’ families pay the full cost for many sports. It was a tough blow, one that left district
leaders hoping that a recount — mandatory because of the narrow margin — or the opening of
provisional ballots will reverse the loss.

Given that the results still could shift, here’s what really ought to sting for those on either
side: 14 people who cast a ballot left the district levy issue unmarked. These “undervotes,” among
the 1,613 for the levy and the 1,629 against it, might end up being crucial. But for some reason,
these 14 voters didn’t weigh in.

Likewise, a Republican-controlled panel recommended on Tuesday that the House, also
GOP-controlled, uphold a razor-thin win by an incumbent Republican. State Rep. Al Landis of Dover
beat Democrat Josh O'Farrell in November by eight votes.

Why is this important? Because it preserves the Republicans’ three-fifths supermajority at the
Statehouse, giving them enough votes to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot or override
a veto by the governor without Democratic support.

So, eight voters in Tuscarawas County may determine choices for all Ohioans.

Turnout was embarrassingly thin in Tuesday’s primary. Just 4.5 percent of the 600,000 Franklin
County residents who had issues or candidates on the ballot voted. In last year’s primary election,
a presidential race, turnout was 23.2 percent; in the fall general election, it reached a record
71.06 percent.

The low primary turnout raises a few questions, the first of which is how to make citizens
realize that every election is important and, in fact, dramatically impacts their lives and their
pocketbooks.

Voting is a right. And it’s a responsibility, the importance of which is underscored by tight
races where clearly every vote counts.